My Top Three Customer Service Tactics.

Customer service has been on my mind a lot lately. Everywhere I go I pay attention to the service being provided and how issues are responded to and resolved. Sometimes I’m impressed with the high level of service and attention, but more often than not I can see ways for improvement.

I recently went on a weekend excursion with my family to New York City. My wife and I took my almost 3 year old son and my parents and set out on a train to see the big city. We stayed in midtown so we could be close to Central Park and the other attractions. Our hotel was booked directly with one of the top hotel brands in the world. We’ve stayed at this hotel before so we knew what to expect from them. Upon arrival we checked into our rooms, but only one room was ready, no problem. After we were told our room would be ready in an hour we set our bags down in my parents room and set off on a walk.

After more than an hour of touring the city we went back to get the keys to our room. We came to our room only to find it had not been cleaned and refreshed yet. The bathroom was a mess, the beds had not been made and there was no crib or fridge, both of which we had requested. I called down to alert the staff and they assured me that someone would be there right away to clean up. A half hour later and no sign of anyone, we left to explore and find some NYC food. A few hours later we arrived back to a clean room, a crib, and a fridge! We were happy to have a clean room and ready to move on with our time in NYC.

I understand that these situations come up and aren’t a big deal to me as mistakes happen as long as they are corrected. Looking back, though, I can see a few ways in which it could have been handled better.

1. Be specific in your words. When I called down alerting the hotel of our issues we were told someone would be right there to clean. My dad and I waited for 30 minutes after the call before we left and nobody had arrived yet. The vague phrasing made it difficult to understand when they would have someone there. The lesson is to be specific, let me know that a maid will be there in X minutes or by a certain time. This way our expectations are controlled and understood.
2. Communication is a game-changer. Once our room was cleaned and prepared we didn’t hear anything from the hotel again. An easy gesture is to follow up on the situation. A simple phone call or note from the management would have gone a long way to acknowledge their mistake and make certain it was resolved well.
3. Do a little more. A phone call or check-up is one way to show a customer you care about them and the situation, but think about ways to do more. Small gestures go a long way, whether or not a customer has an issue. This hotel could easily have sent a few small chocolates, a bottle of water to include in the fridge, or a discount card for the shop downstairs. I don’t believe our issue needed a rebate or free night, but something small would have impressed me.

In the end our issues were resolved, we had a great time and took home lots of memories. The hotel did enough to resolve our issues, but could have easily taken this opportunity to separate themselves from their competition by doing just a little bit more. Our issue and any issue really is a chance for businesses to make customers fans or even raging fans just by doing more than what’s expected.